Plus, a cabless autonomous truck just raised $24M, non-domiciled CDLs rules need clarifying, CSX posts a 26% profit jump while watching the UP-NS merger closely, and more in today's newsletter.
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ICYMI: FreightCaviar is travelling across the U.S. Here's what the first three weeks have looked like: Sponsor meetups, subscriber photo shoots, premieres, truck stops, Elk Grove to Phoenix, and more. FOMO starts now.
Plus: court rebukes CDL crackdown, Trump scraps food tariffs, FMCSA launches new study, and more in today's newsletter.
Happy Monday. USPS tried to ban immigrant truck drivers and ended up creating an even bigger operational mess while posting a $9 billion loss.
Plus:
🚨 Court Rebukes FMCSA on Non-Domiciled CDL Crackdown. A new court order delivered another blow to DOT/FMCSA’s non-domiciled CDL rule, and this time the criticism hit at the core argument: safety. Ken Adamo pointed out on his X account the most damning line from the ruling: Non-domiciled drivers make up ~5% of CDL holders but just 0.2% of fatal crashes. The court said FMCSA provided no data showing that revoking these CDLs improves safety, and warned that forcing out experienced foreign drivers could actually make highways less safe by replacing them with greener, less-tested operators. Adamo’s notes on this matter: highway safety should be driven by actuarial science, not political theater.
🛒 Trump Retreats on Food Tariffs as Grocery Costs Bite. President Trump abruptly scrapped tariffs on beef, coffee, tropical fruit, tea, spices, and other staples. This is a reversal of his second-term trade strategy as grocery inflation continues to squeeze voters. The White House framed it as a “pivot to affordability,” but Democrats called it an admission that tariffs were driving prices higher. Retailers agreed the tariff relief should ease costs, especially on items the U.S. doesn’t produce domestically. The rollback follows new trade frameworks with Ecuador, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Argentina.
🕒 FMCSA Targets HOS Risks With New Crash Study. FMCSA has launched a study to understand how driver work schedules influence crash risk. The agency plans to survey 60 motor carriers, collecting de-identified logs and crash data to examine risk by driving hour, restart schedules, demographics, and past HOS changes. FMCSA says no current dataset can answer these questions, and skipping the study would leave regulators “flying blind” on safety impacts. Public comments will be open for 60 days as the agency prepares its request for OMB approval.
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The U.S. Postal Service is already bleeding money, $9.01 billion lost in fiscal 2025, according to newly surfaced financial data. Transportation is one of USPS’s biggest cost centers. Outsourced contractors do the majority of long-haul hauling. And margin pressure is brutal.
So naturally, this was the moment USPS decided to… try banning immigrant truck drivers.
And it went exactly how you think.
Earlier this month, USPS instructed contractors that drivers hauling mail must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents, a new standard that caught thousands of carriers off guard. Many contractors who haul mail rely heavily on immigrant labor (including non-citizens who are legally permitted to hold CDLs and drive interstate).
The order triggered immediate panic:
Within days, the directive quietly unraveled. USPS now claims it was “miscommunicated.” But operators say the impact was already felt.
The timing couldn’t be worse: USPS is losing billions. A $9 billion loss means the agency is under intense pressure to control risk, costs, and contractor performance. But the attempted driver restriction did the opposite:
Instead of improving compliance or safety, USPS created an artificial shockwave in its own supply chain.
Even if you don’t haul mail, this story is a preview of what 2026 could look like:
It also ties directly into themes we’ve been covering for months: English-language proficiency enforcement, CDL training crackdowns, non-domiciled driver scrutiny, and rising political pressure around who is “allowed” to operate commercial vehicles.
The takeaway?
USPS can’t afford chaos, literally. Not in a year where it lost nine billion dollars. But this episode shows how fragile the system is when financial desperation meets unclear rules. And if this is any preview of what’s coming in 2026, brokers and carriers should brace for more sudden compliance shakeups that ripple through the entire domestic freight network.
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🔍 Market Debate. Craig Fuller and Ken Adamo clashed over the freight recession’s depth, CDL enforcement increases and automation’s future with Fuller seeing warning signs and Adamo noting muted demand.
⚠️ Pay-Practice Critique. A former Trident Transport employee in Chattanooga accused the carrier of unfair pay practices and lack of transparency in driver compensation. A lawsuit is pending.
📬 USPS Backfire. The U.S. Postal Service’s attempt to ban contractors from hiring immigrant drivers for mail routes “went horribly wrong.” Outrage on this situation is growing with some calling for more accountability from USPS.
đź“Š Lane Value Rising. Despite weak overall demand, truckload rates are climbing in key lanes, such as Los Angeles to Chicago, thus signaling pockets of tightening capacity even as volumes remain stagnant.
🖥️ Jaguar Attack Cost. Jaguar Land Rover suffered a cyberattack on September 2 that cost over $220 million. The attack also put a dent in its profits, but now production is ramping up again, with hopes to remedy the lost.
🎣 THE FREIGHT CAVIAR CORNER
FREIGHT HUMOR
ICYMI: FreightCaviar is travelling across the U.S. Here's what the first three weeks have looked like: Sponsor meetups, subscriber photo shoots, premieres, truck stops, Elk Grove to Phoenix, and more. FOMO starts now.
Plus, the offshore dispatchers your safety score can't catch, why Hormuz stays closed even after the war ends, what Triumph Financial's invoice volumes say about where freight is headed, and more.
"I think some TMS's are failing because they don’t understand what brokers do every day."
Plus, USPS gives non-domiciled CDL carriers an 11-day deadline, the spot-to-contract spread starts squeezing 3PLs, Knight-Swift trims its Q1 guide but stays bullish, and more.
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